Editor’s Note: This article was written for Mosaic, an independent journalism training program for high school and college students who report and photograph stories under the guidance of professional journalists.

It took three years to get here, but about 30 girls at Del Mar High School in San Jose have kickstarted the school’s first flag football team.

They don’t have jerseys, and they’re only planning to play four non-league games this season, but it’s the start of what many of the team members consider a positive, trailblazing experience.

“It’s such a big thing, especially because it’s the first-ever year,” junior Kimani Yarber said.

Del Mar High School junior Kimani Yarber runs to catch the football during practice in San Jose on Aug. 20, 2025. (Alexis Carrillo/Mosaic) 

The Del Mar program, a touch football sport for girls, was inspired by the students, PE Coach Kyle Ghazanfari said.

A couple of girls had been asking and asking to start a team, he said, “and I wanted to do it.”

Sophomore Jayleen Fuentes, one of the drivers of the program, said she believes the new flag football team creates a positive outlet for Del Mar’s female athletes.

Del Mar Coach Kyle Ghazanfari talks with his girls flag football team during a group huddle during practice at school on Aug. 20, 2025. (Alexis Carillo/Mosaic) 

“I was originally a volleyball player,” she said. ”I wanted to try something new, so I was really persistent … about getting a flag football team together, because I know that in past years it has failed, and I didn’t want that to happen again.”

Other teammates said they also wanted to try something different.

Senior Nalani Jackson said, “My sophomore year, they said they were going to start it, but we didn’t have enough girls. I came into this year saying I was going to try a little bit of everything, like a new sport.” She called the team dynamic and fresh.

Their first game is Thursday at 4:30 p.m. at Sobrato High School in MOrgan Hill.

Del Mar’s team is kicking off as flag football explodes across the country, and is creating a new opportunity for female athletes, Ghazanfari said, adding that he has been looking to start a girl’s flag football team since 2022.

According to the National Federation of State High School Associations, flag football has been a growing sport — especially for girls — for 10 years.

Nationally, the sport receives support from the National Football League, through funding and promotion, according to ESPN’s website. Flag football will even become an Olympic sport at the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.

Del Mar High School Coach Kyle Ghazanfari talks to his girls flag football players at the end of practice at school on Aug. 20, 2025. This is Del Mar’s first year with a flag football team. (Alexis Carrillo/Mosaic) 

About 500,000 girls ages 6-17 have played flag football in schools and leagues since 2023, and 17 states have adopted it as a varsity sport. It is most popular in Florida, New York and California, according to NFL FLAG, which calls itself the largest U.S. flag football league.

Regionally, the California Interscholastic Federation sanctioned flag football as an official varsity sport in 2023. Since then, the number of athletes playing girls flag football has increased 60%, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations.

In Northern California, more than 70 girls’ high school flag football teams have competed in the North Coast Section since its adoption two years ago. The North Coast Section extends from Fremont to the Oregon border. Del Mar’s team hopes to join the league next year.

Fuentes, who has taken a leadership role on the team, said team members have learned to work well together. The girls who show up every day are “putting in the effort to learn — not afraid to make mistakes and actually trying something new,” she said.

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Fuentes hopes to grow with the program as an upperclassman. “I am hoping that I have somehow made an impact on Del Mar,” she said, adding that she’d like to see Del Mar’s flag football team be a league sport.

Like Ghazanfari, Fuentes said this year is all about setting a strong foundation for a greater program at Del Mar. The team will play three more games, also not league games, in October.

There are more hurdles to overcome. The new program has zero funding, and team members are practicing with the school’s PE flags and a few footballs Ghazanfari purchased. They are fundraising for equipment but cannot afford jerseys this year.

But team members have high hopes. Yarber said flag football has opened an exciting new option for girls who want to play sports, “You could play in college, too – people are getting scholarships for it.”

Ghazanfari is focused on laying the groundwork, getting players interested and building a dedicated team, he said.

“It will hopefully be really good for us,” Fuentes said about building the team, “maybe get some people to see what Del Mar is really about, what we can really do here.”

Lauren Uppal is a member of the class of 2026 at Del Mar High School in San Jose.